1. Thus
can my love excuse the slow offence
2. Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:
3. From where thou art why should I haste me thence?
4. Till I return, of posting is no need.
5. O! what excuse will my poor beast then find,
6. When swift extremity can seem but slow?
7. Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind,
8. In winged speed no motion shall I know,
9. Then can no horse with my desire keep pace.
10. Therefore desire, (of perfect'st love being made)
11. Shall neigh, no dull flesh, in his fiery race;
12. But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade-
13. Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,
14. Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.

A sequel to
the previous sonnet, continuing
the story of the lover's journey, and anticipating his eventual return
to
his beloved, when, as he foresees it, in his eagerness he will outrun
even
the fastest horse. On first impressions this sonnet seems to describe
the
return journey, but in fact it only speculates on what that journey
might
be, while in reality the speaker is still probably travelling away from
the youth.

The poem is a
remarkable tour-de-force of motion,
with words of swiftness and slowness tumbling over each other. Almost
every
line contains some reference to the rapidity of desire or the dulling
drag
of reality.

Thus one finds slow;
dull; speed; haste; posting;
excuse; swift extremity; slow; spur; mounted on the wind; winged speed,
no motion; keep pace; desire; dull flesh; fiery race; excuse; going,
wilfull
slow; run; give leave, go.
These are not all words of motion, but in the context they take up the
colours
of their surroundings and, like the steed of desire, which is made of
the
most perfect love, gallop away on the wind.

There are
considerable difficulties in attaching
precise meanings to the thoughts expressed in lines 9-14, and that is
perhaps
precisely what we are intended not to do. The range of meanings is
dense
and elusive, suggesting both the speed of thought, desire, love and
devotion,
in terms of winged flight (Pegasus), fiery steeds, the winds, the
sightless
couriers of the air, the horsemen of the apocalypse, as well as the
occasional
reminder of the dull flesh, poor beasts and the muddy vesture of decay.
But it is desire (of perfectest love being made) which in the end
triumphs,
as the poet rushes forward to the beloved on the swift wings of
thought,
and material means of transport are turned loose and given leave to
wander
and to pasture as they please.

THE 1609 QUARTO VERSION

51

T

Hus can my loue excuſe
the
ſlow offence,
Of my dull bearer,when from thee I ſpeed,

From
where thou art,why ſhoulld
I haſt me thence,
Till I returne of poſting is noe need.
O what excuſe will my poore beaſt then find,
When ſwift extremity can ſeeme but ſlow,
Then ſhould I ſpurre though mounted on the wind,
In winged ſpeed no motion ſhall I know,
Then can no horſe with my deſire keepe pace,
Therefore deſire( of perfects loue being made )
Shall naigh noe dull fleſh in his fiery race,
But loue,for loue,thus ſhall excuſe my iade,
Since from thee going,he went wilfull ſlow,
Towards thee ile run,and giue him leaue to goe.

1.
Thus can my
love excuse
the slow offence

1.Thus -
referring to the explanation
of the horse's lack of speed given in the previous sonnet. Also looking
ahead to lines 3-4. my love = my love for you,
(which will find reasons
to excuse the horse's slowness). But a secondary meaning is the youth
himself,
who could be imagined as joining in the analysis of love's swiftness
and
time's slowness. 3-4. slow offence = offensive
slowness; the sin
of moving in a dull and sluggardish way. Compare swift
extremity
of line 6.

2. Of my dull bearer when
from thee I speed:

2.
my dull bearer - the tardy horse.
Also reminiscent of 'one who bears, one who suffers'.

3. From where thou art
why should I haste me thence?

3.Why
should I speed away from you? Ihaste me - modern usage
would be 'I hasten', without the
reflexive me. Cf: Weary
with toil, I haste me to my bed, 27.
thence = from there.

4. Till I return, of
posting
is no need.

4. of
posting = of using post horses,
and hence travelling by the fastest possible means. Over 100 miles per
day
could be achieved by the determined use of post horses, which were
stationed
at inns on main highways, chiefly for the use of those on government
business.
The system enabled frequent changes of horse to be made. Hence phrases
such
as haste-post-haste came into the language.

OED - post. v.1.
cites: 1598 Hakluyt Voy.
I. 65 Riding as fast as our horses could trot (for we had
fresh horses
almost thrise or four times a day) we posted from morning till night.

5. O! what excuse will
my poor beast then find,

5.
O! What excuse - sc. what excuse for
not running fast enough to satisfy the wish of the rider.

6. When swift extremity
can seem but slow?

6.
swift extremity = swiftness which
is at the extreme of all possible speed; extreme swiftness.

7. Then should I spur,
though mounted on the wind,

7.
Then = when the time comes for me
to return. should I spur, though etc. = I would indeed
use the spur, even though
I were etc.

8. In winged speed no
motion shall I know,

8.
It will seem as if even winged flight is
like standing still.

9. Then can no horse
with my desire keep pace.

9. (And) no
horse will be able to run as
fast as I desire it to run. My desire to be with my love is so keen
that
it seems to leap over distance and nothing can keep pace with it. Lines
9 and 10 seem to be tacked on as additions to line 7, not so much
qualifying
it as as adding further thoughts which illustrate the poet's eagerness
to
be going and his anticipation of what he will do then when the journey
begins.

The punctuation of
8-14 is problematic. Q does
not help much, as it provides only commas for 5-14, implying that the
whole
is one long sentence. But Therefore of line 10
seems to start a sentence,
and I have punctuated accordingly. I have retained the brackets also,
which
most editors discard. The mere fact that the poem deals with headlong
motion
makes punctuation of less importance, and we could perhaps abandon it
entirely.
But this would probably be too disturbing for a modern reader,
accustomed
to use punctuation as an aid to understanding. In addition, fidelity to
the original edition does have some virtue, so one should retain it
wherever
possible if it does not violate common sense, or if the proposed change
does not significantly improve our understanding, or if it is not too
much
at variance with modern practice.

10. Therefore desire,
(of perfect'st love being made)

10.
Qs perfects is usually emended either
to perfect or perfect'st as
here. The phrase in brackets seems
to qualify desire as though fearing that it might
be interpreted
as lust, or else desiring to show that desire is of
a pure and ethereal
nature, made of air and fire, as in 44 and 45, and capable of
phenomenal
speed.

11. Shall neigh, no dull
flesh, in his fiery race;

11. My
disembodied desire shall neigh, like
a spirited stallion in a turbulent race, expressing its energy and
eagerness
to reach the goal. It will not be like an ordinary piece of dull horse
flesh.

The line is generally
reckoned to be difficult,
with no single meaning having predominance. But it is clear that some
comparison
is being made between desire and a spirited horse, the comparison being
in the end detrimental to the horse. Since race has
several distinct
meanings (contest of speed, genus, fast current), it is obvious that
several
meanings could be hammered from the line, especially as his
could
apply to desire or to horse
indifferently. Desire both
is and is not a fiery steed, and in the end it discards all bestial
existence
in its swift flight through the ether of thought.

12. But love, for love,
thus shall excuse my jade-

12.
love, for love = my love for you,
or love personified, shall, for the sake of that love, or our love, or
for
the sake of you, or both, or all, shall etc. jade a tired horse; a worn out, useless horse.

14. give
him leave to go = dismiss him,
send him packing, let him do as he pleases. The basic meaning of 'to
grant
permission' in this context acquires a slighltly contemptuous tone,
especially
as it is applied to a horse, not to a human. Since the horse is so
useless
he may be turned away. Shakespeare uses the phrase 'to give leave to'
more
than 80 times in the plays, often at very poignant moments. It was much
more common then than now. Some examples are recorded below.